Rain
by Irene Finlay
Summary: It's a rainy day and Harry thinks about loss.....and discovers something wonderful H/G, R/Hr


Rain  
The rain beat down on the Burrow's roof relentlessly. Occasionally the dark sky would be illuminated by a flash of lightening. Inside the Burrow, a red headed boy was having a screaming match with a girl with bushy brown hair.  
  
In the corner sat a boy with jet-black hair and bright green eyes. He was staring out the window at the rain and didn't seem to notice the commotion going on around him. Nobody noticed the girl with red hair who sat across the room from the boy with black hair, watching him as she often did, observing.  
  
"Fine, Hermione-if you're too stubborn to admit you're wrong then we have nothing to say," the red headed boy shouted.  
  
"Me? Oh, I'm the stubborn one? Ron, that is the most idiotic thing you've said all day, and that's saying something, believe me!"  
  
Ron sputtered for a moment before glaring at his bushy-haired fianc(e. "Oh, so now I'm suddenly an idiot?"  
  
Hermione laughed dryly.  
  
"Believe me Ron, you being an idiot is not a new development!"  
  
"If I'm such an idiot then why are you marrying me?"  
  
"Because for some reason I love you, that's why!" Hermione turned on her heel and fled upstairs. A moment later, Ron let out a dramatic sigh and headed into the kitchen, presumably to eat away his frustration.  
  
Ron and Hermione had been fighting more then usual lately, the red headed girl figured it was their own unique way of dealing with things. She knew they didn't mean it when they screamed at each other. In fact, it sometimes seemed to her that they thrived on their arguments. She supposed that the recent amount of fights they'd been having (and the reason they were having them) accounted for why they didn't notice what she did when she looked at the boy in the corner.  
  
She watched as the boy covered his face with his hands and leaned to press his forehead against the windowpane.  
  
"Harry?" The boy's head remained in his hands.  
  
"What?" came his reply, barely audible.  
  
The girl sighed and walked over to him, tentatively placing a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Harry, look at me," Slowly the boy raised his eyes to the girl's.  
  
"I know," she smiled sadly down at him, "and I understand more then you think."  
  
A confused expression played on Harry's face. "Understand what?"  
  
Ginny didn't reply, just placed a hand on each of Harry's cheeks and lowered her lips to his forehead.  
  
"I'm here, remember that." she said simply before walking away.  
  
~*~  
  
Harry Potter was depressed. He had been for most the summer. Of course, nobody knew; or at least, if they did they didn't let on. Most of the time no one even noticed him, they were all busy with their own lives. Ron and Hermione were engaged, and at the moment engaged in a spectacular argument over whether to have a Muggle ceremony or a traditional wizarding one. He'd long since stopped listening, as they'd stopped making sense about an hour ago.  
  
Harry wished he could be so preoccupied with such a trivial thing but at the moment he was consumed with thoughts of a much more serious nature. It was exactly one year today that he'd lost Dumbledore to Voldemort. A week ago it had been the 5 month anniversary of Sirius' death and in two more weeks it would be three years since he'd lost Hagrid.  
  
Harry knew he should feel thankful- Voldemort was dead by his hand, he'd finished at Hogwarts and even managed to get good grades. All the Weasleys had made it through the war physically unscathed, although Fred and George had taken months to start joking again after Voldemort fell.  
  
It had been five months since the day the war had ended, and everywhere witches and wizards were celebrating, making plans for the future, getting on with life. But try as he might, Harry couldn't.  
  
He couldn't shake the sadness that filled every inch of his being, couldn't seem to throw off the terrible weight he felt in his soul, couldn't close the gaping hole he felt in his heart whenever he thought of those he'd lost.  
  
The weather today was perfectly in tune with his emotions today; It was dark, dreary and cold outside. Fog covered everything, making it impossible to see very far in any direction. A mirror image of what he felt inside.  
  
He was suddenly vaguely aware of the fact that Ron and Hermione had left the room. Grateful to be alone with his troubled thoughts, he let his head rest against the window, covering his face with his hands.  
  
The sound of a voice saying his name startled him, but he didn't look up, merely grunting "What" in a voice that even he could barely hear.  
  
A moment later he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and heard the voice say his name again. It was Ginny, asking him to look at her.  
  
Obliging, he met her gaze, expecting to see confusion at his mood, or disbelief that he wasn't happy. Instead he saw sadness in her own eyes, and.understanding.  
  
"I know." She stated, "and I understand more that you think,"  
  
Not understanding what she was talking about he furrowed his brow, "Understand what?"  
  
When Ginny didn't elaborate he was about to open his mouth to ask her again what she meant but he silenced himself when Ginny's hands came up to his cheeks and she planted a gentle kiss on his forehead.  
  
"I'm here, remember that," Without another word Ginny turned and left the room.  
  
For a moment Harry stared after her, still unsure of what she meant. "She knows?" he thought, "Knows what?"  
  
Replaying what had just happened, Harry realized that she knew: knew that he was depressed. He shook his head, smiling a bit. Ginny never ceased to surprise and amaze him. She was far more perceptive then people gave her credit for.  
  
What she'd said about being there was true. Ginny was always there when he needed her. Whenever anyone needed her. She was, without a doubt the most caring person he knew. She was beautiful both inside and out, a real rarity in the world.  
  
Over the past three years she'd become a great friend to him, ever since she'd joined the Quidditch team in his fifth year.  
  
When he'd ran to Dumbledore's side after watching him fall it had been Ginny to hold him while he cried and quietly lead him away, Ginny who had sat with him after Sirius' memorial service when he couldn't bring himself to leave the grave.  
  
Harry sat a moment longer, thinking about how good a friend she was when he noticed something. It was quiet. Very quiet. Turning to the window he was surprised to see that the rain had stopped and the sun was beginning to peek from behind the clouds.  
  
Deciding to venture outside Harry bounded upstairs to grab his shoes. On a whim he grabbed his broom as well, perhaps a good fly would help lift his spirits.  
  
~*~  
  
Once outside Harry paused for a moment, trying to decide where to go. Looking north he caught sight of the river and started in that direction. He'd found that water helped him think, he supposed it was from the years at Hogwarts when he'd often sat by the lake when he'd needed perspective.  
  
Harry was so deep in thought as he approached the river that he didn't notice the red headed figure leaning against a tree.  
  
He performed a quick drying charm on a large rock that jutted out over the rushing water and settled himself down.  
  
"Great minds think alike, don't they?" Harry jumped at the sound of the voice behind him. He had to catch himself to keep from tumbling headlong into the river.  
  
"Good god, you startled me Gin," he said turning to face her.  
  
Ginny smiled apologetically and shrugged.  
  
"Sorry about that, I assumed you'd seen me as you walked by."  
  
Now it was Harry's turn to look apologetic. "No, I didn't. Deep in thought I guess."  
  
Ginny moved to stand in front of him. "Seems to me you've been doing a lot of thinking lately." She said softly.  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
"I didn't think anyone noticed," he admitted.  
  
"I noticed. I can tell when someone's depressed. Its easy to read the signs when you've been through it yourself."  
  
Harry looked up at her questioningly. "When?" he queried.  
  
Ginny shrugged and looked over his shoulder at the water. "Plenty of times," she said. "When Ron left for Hogwarts; when everything was going on with the diary.and then the summer after that. For a long time I would come out here and just cry. Everyone thought I was just quiet because I was embarrassed by what happened in the Chamber of Secrets.they never realised how much it affected me, or how.I blamed myself for everything that happened.blamed myself for almost killing you.and then when Hagrid died I came here a lot too.he was a good friend."  
  
Harry simply nodded his agreement and waited for her to continue.  
  
"I felt so alone. I felt like nobody could possibly understand what I was feeling, that I was in a dark hole or something, and couldn't find my way out." her voice trailed off and she brought her gaze back to Harry's.  
  
"So what happened?" His voice was quiet.  
  
"I don't know, I found my way out I guess." Moving over to make room for her on the rock, Harry gestured for Ginny to sit down.  
  
"Thanks," she said.  
  
After a moment of sitting in silence Ginny spoke up again. "What's it like for you?"  
  
Harry turned to look at her, confused. "What's what like?"  
  
"Your depression.it's different for everyone.I told you how for me it was like a deep hole-what's it like for you?"  
  
Harry sighed. "Rain," he said simply.  
  
Ginny waited for him to continue.  
  
"It feels like I'm walking along and all of a sudden, the air changes and I can feel it coming like a storm. I try to outrun it, but it always catches up with me. Usually the more I run from it the worse it is when it hits. It drenches me completely, and I feel so cold, so alone.the weird thing is that it's like its only raining on me.as though all around me is sunny and bright and I know I should feel warm, that I shouldn't feel so alone, but I cant help it. People don't seem to realize that, though.when Dumbledore died I had people telling me to 'snap out of it'.telling me to 'cheer up'." he laughed dryly. "As though I could! It isn't as though I want to feel this way, I know that I should be grateful for everything I have, but I cant help but think about everything I've lost."  
  
Ginny reached over to squeeze Harry's hand.  
  
"Other people I think do actually notice that I'm not myself but don't know how to deal with it.I think they believe I want them to 'fix' everything.I don't.all I really want is someone to walk with me until the rain stops."  
  
Harry finished speaking and looked down at Ginny's small hand, her fingers interlaced with his own. "Harry." He looked up at her. "I'll walk with you.if you'll let me."  
  
Harry smiled slightly and reached out to pull Ginny to him. Burying his face in her neck he whispered "Thank you," before pulling back to look at her.  
  
Bringing her hands up to his cheeks as she'd done earlier that day Ginny leaned over to lightly brush her lips against Harry's.  
  
At that moment there was a crash of thunder and the rain began to pelt down again.  
  
Harry pulled back.  
  
"You can go in if you want to, Gin," he said.  
  
Ginny shook her head and stood up, holding out her hand.  
  
"No, Harry, as long as its raining on you, I'll be by your side. And I'll be there when it stops too."  
  
Taking her hand Harry pulled Ginny to him again, and kissed her gently. Holding her tightly to him, Harry closed his eyes. For once the rain didn't feel cold--it felt warm.and he didn't feel alone anymore. Pulling her closer still, Harry allowed himself a small smile. Perhaps the rain wasn't so bad after all, he thought. At least so long as he had had Ginny to weather the storm with.  
  
They stood there together until the rain tapered off again, before walking hand in hand back to the Burrow.  
  
~*~  
  
The sun now shone down on the Burrow, and birds sang out in the trees, happy to be dry.  
  
Inside a red headed boy was attempting to apologize to his bushy-haired fiancée for being an idiot earlier.  
  
A boy with raven hair and bright green eyes sat quietly in the living room on the couch, staring out the window at the birds pecking the ground. Nobody noticed the red headed girl who sat beside him, head resting on his shoulder. No one, that is, except the boy that held her. To him she was everything. She was his shelter from the rain.  
  
-Fin- 


End file.
